Dream Keeper
by Amandyta012
Summary: 5 years after Jake could make Rose remember everything, she got lost in another dimension, during a battle. It's been a long time since the last time she saw him and her friends; but now, everything is about to change. Along with new hopes, comes an old darkness. And she will have to fight bravely to save the ones she loves. [Rose/Jake] [Haley/Spud]
1. Chapter 1

**_Author Notes:_**

_Hey guys! Welcome to my fanfic! _

_This is my second one (still practicing) so, if you have any critics or suggestions, send them kindly, please._

_I've already finished the whole thing, so it'll be a lot easier to post it. _

_I REALLY hope you like it!_

_It takes place **some years after the last episode** of the series._

_Don't forget to let your **reviews**, so that I know what you think._

_**See ya** ;)_

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I'm really tense. My hands are sweating; and I try to dry them with my old blue dress, as look down at the table and up again. Where is he? He should have arrived by now. We would be laughing, talking and eating. Not at the same time, of course, that'd be a disgrace… Is it possible that he just forgot? I look around searching for him but all I see is people enjoying their evening. It's been two hours since I sat down; I have no clue about what happened. Could he be hurt? What if the Huntsman… Wait, no, that's not even possible, he's dead. He… He's dead, right? Well, I guess so. I hope so. But I keep asking myself hundreds of questions, for which I might never find an answer.

The waitress comes and asks me, I guess for the sixth time, if I already want to order anything. At last, I surrender: I ask for a classic hamburger and an orange juice. It's not so much, considering I'm starving.

My wondering eye searches around the room, up to the stealing and again down to the white table – when I notice I'm wearing my bracelet. For one moment I had completely forgotten I was, which is something to worry about. Once one gets used to the sensation of being in a dream, they can get lost inside it forever; and might never wake up again. I have to keep that in mind.

This is just a dream, but I've done that many times; I mean, have met him, in different places. Not him, actually, but a copy made by my own mind. And it worked, all times. I don't know what it's happening now.

I take a deep breath and stand up. If he's not going to show up, there's no reason why I should stay here. I move my right hand up and down, drawing a line on the air; and I pull it, opening a portal. It's just like ripping a piece of fabric. I walk into this new atmosphere and, when I see it, I'm in a memory.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I don't think he'll come." I hear my own voice echoing between my ears.

"Don't worry, Huntress." The Huntsman says, almost kindly. "Leprechauns are easy to persuade, as long as you have the right weapons. They have two options. And I'd say that bringing me the treasure and the crystal skull is the wisest one."

"But what if the… the American Dragon…"

"If the American Idiot shows up, I will make him regret it. And so will you."

I tense up. "What do you mean?"

He looks at me, confused. "Well… I mean that you'll make him regret it too. It will be good for you, to finally kill that dragon. Are you okay, Huntress? You look worried." I can almost see his eyebrows moving, one up and one down; although his middle-aged features are hidden by that purple mask with a dragon skull as some kind of "helmet".

"Oh, no, sir… I'm tired, that's all." I try to look and sound normal. Professional. "When we return to the Huntsclan base, I will ask you for a whole night of sleep, sir. Of course, if we succeed." I say, as I try to figure out what I'm gonna do during those hours, 'cause I'm not tired at all.

"You are an excellent warrior for my army, Huntress. You have worked well. Of course you need to rest."

"Thank you, Master."

"But, unfortunately, that's not how things work here. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to rest, after we have ruled the magical world. But for now, 7 hours of sleep is your award."

"Yes, Mater." How could I expect it would be different? Anyway… But what I really see in my face, and I remember feeling it, is worry. I'm worried about Jake. We're standing among hundreds of Sha Long trees. When their trunk gets cut, it releases a gas that is lethal to dragons; mainly the Chinese ones. But the Huntsman doesn't know that.

Well, after all, guess I'd make a great villain. I mean, if I hadn't discovered the human identity of the American Dragon – and that worries me as well.

_Don't do it, Jake_, I tell myself. I knew, somehow, that he'd come; and just some seconds pass by when I, the one of the memory, spot a dark-red blur flying above us, while the leprechauns appear from the darkness of the forest at night, carrying a box. My uncle didn't notice Jake up there; and I pretended I didn't.

"Excellent" He says, when he opens the box; and a light comes from inside it, hitting his mask and the metallic dragon skull.

Suddenly, I spot Jake behind him. Adrenaline runs through my veins. I shake my head discretely to him, as if saying "Don't do that", or "That's not worth it, I can handle it". I could find a way to send the crystal skull to him later. Maybe I could.

I want no longer to stand here and watch this scene. I open a new window and end up in a grey room. Its walls are filled with weapons we used to use at Huntsclan. I spot myself sitting on the ground, reading a book; when a portal opens, but not by my will – just like a TV, it shows a scene. I can see Jake in his dragon form fighting against some weird creature. Fu Dog shouts something at him and he looks straight at me across the portal.

"Rose!" He shouts; and I hear him. My eyes meet his and a smile appears on my face; when something happens and, suddenly, the portal is closed.

I remember it well. It was when the Huntsman told me to kill the American Dragon and I didn't; so he sent me back to the academy, to remind myself of what it's required to be a real Huntress. I stayed there for months; until I showed him what I was capable of, and he sent me back to New York.

Once more, I open a new portal: but I want to make my way of my own mind. This time, I end up in the middle of a grey corridor – the Dreamscape corridor.

The way it draws seems infinite; and maybe it is. The hallway goes ahead until it disappears, until it becomes one tiny point in the middle of nowhere. There are many doors on the walls next to me; each one of them with a friend's name. I take a few steps to find myself looking at Jake's door.

I hesitate one, two, three times; but I'm not in my sanity state, so I open it anyway.

Worthless though. Why did I go inside his dreams when his mind had already created a version of me? A version neither I, neither he could see, because there was a concrete wall blocking our vision. The atmosphere is dark. As it seems, it is a nightmare; in which he stood tied up with some kind of invisible rope and stared terrified at the wall. I can hear my own whisper coming from behind it.

"Jake, they're trying to catch me…"the whisper says. He tries to break free, to save me, to do something – but he can't even move. And I just can't take it anymore; I can't see him suffer that way, even if it's not real.

So I search for the red button, which is located behind one's door. It turns the dreams off for some hours, and it's all I need. I hear some footsteps from behind the mysterious wall and, before anyone screams, I press the button. The room disappears, and the place turns white, just like when the person is awake.

I leave the place, now a blank room; a blank state.

I feel my heart sinking in, making my chest heavy and my vision is messed up by some tears that make their way from my eyes to my chin. What was I thinking? It's helpless to come back here. But I keep doing it; every night. I come to dreams to escape from my nightmare.

My real one.

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**_Author_****_ Notes 2:_**

_Thanks so much for Reading the first chapter!_

_**PS.:** if you want to follow my blog on Tumblr, it's **mywonderfuldaydreams**_

**_Xoxo ;)_**

_And may the odds be ever in your favor!_

_XD_


	2. Chapter 2

Hunt. Hide. Eat. Sleep. Try to, as least, survive. That is my life now, a life I had never expected for myself. But I guess fate decided to play a little game with me.

I walk to the place I sleep and organize the few things I have left: the Hunsclan laser weapon, a rope, and my mission clothes. I'm wearing these clothes for God know how much time; and, therefore, I must stink, but I guess I got used to the smell.

Suddenly, what I could expect the least happens. I see a portal opening in the sky; and some kids, a teenage girl, a platypus and a doctor run before my eyes. They run towards another portal they have just opened with a kind of remote control and, before I can do anything, say anything, they disappear; as well as my only chance to get out of here. Everything went so fast I didn't even have time to think, and now I've lost a chance in a billion; the chance to go home, to tell my parents I'm alive, to tell my friends I missed them, to tell everyone I love I'm alright. But if I had the chance to make them move on, I would; because I'm not sure if I will return.

I'm not sure if I will return! That's it! The reason why my mind wasn't able to create another Jake to meet me in my dreams is that I lost hope. But after what I just saw, I guess I should, at least, try – something I stopped doing a long time ago.

—

I'm now at the Dreamscape corridor; and I know exactly whose door I have to look for. I take a few steps forward and the ground starts to shake a little, like a drumbeat. The more steps I take, the stronger it gets; and I notice it's actually caused by music. When my eyes spot the right door, the sound can be clearly heard as a 1950s disco song; and a smile grows on my face: he's dreaming he's young again.

My hand touches the cold door handle and, as soon as I open the door, a new scenery appears before my eyes: people dressed for the 1950s, dancing, drinking, talking. The place is huge, a little dark; and red and blue lights flash here and there. There's a couple of people in a corner, shouting something together, multiple times. I walk towards them and notice what they're shouting. I'm in the right place.

"GO LAO SHI, GO LAO SHI". They chorus. I try to get to the center of their circle, pushing someone each second, because they are too close from each other. When I finally do it, I see Jake's grandpa, Luong Lao Shi, dancing like I had never seen him dancing before. His hair is black and he's shirtless. He jumps, turns around, goes upside down; and other things I learned how to do only at my fighting classes. For a moment, I get hypnotized by his moves; but I think it is more by the sensation of seeing him again. Or, almost.

I wake up from the dance and remember what brought me here, at first place. So I get closer to him and, trying to avoid being kicked or punched, I shout for him to hear me.

"GRAMPS?"

"Oh, HEY ROSE!" He shouts back when he sees me. "Come to join us!"

"No, Luong, please, listen to me, it's important!"

"But what's more important than having fun?!"

"What?!" I'm stunned. He's so like 13 years old Jake…

"I need to talk to you! Alone!" The place gets noisier and noisier. "CAN WE TALK?! PLEASE?!"

He rolls his eyes and says "Excuse me!" to the crowd, that replaces him by another guy that seems to have jelly instead of bones. We get to quieter corner.

"What do you want?!"

"I want you to help me."

"Of course you want that! Look at your clothes!" I look down and see I'm wearing my mission outfit. "Let me fix that" he snaps his fingers and, suddenly, I'm wearing a red old dress.

"That's not what I meant! I'm real! I came to talk to you, I got into your dreams; I'm not your mind's creation!"

He stands looking at me, with his eyes wide open; and for a moment, I really think he believes me… But some seconds pass by and he bursts into laughter.

"I think you drank too much!" He says. "And how could you possibly be THE Rose? She's dead right now. There's nothing you can do. You're just my imagination." He makes a gesture with his hands. "Now, why don't you just enjoy the party? See that elephant over there? He's so alone, you should go and talk to him."

Ok, now I'm angry.

"Okay, now LISTEN!" I grab his shirt, although he wasn't wearing it seconds ago, with one hand and he's raised from the ground. "Do you remember me?! Rose! I got lost in another dimension! I talked to you in your dreams for a while, but then I stopped, because I lost any hope I had to get back home. I'm Adam and Ann's daughter. I love your grandson." I could feel the tears coming. "I- I… I need you to answer some questions I want to ask you. Please..." I can't take it anymore and start crying. I let him go and cover my face with my hands. He won't recognize me. No matter how hard I try, he thinks I'm dead, they all think I'm-

Someone's touching me. With no warning, I feel a hand on my head; and raise my head quickly, to meet his eyes, that now are different. They have concern, responsibility, age and wisdom. He touches my bracelet and we are transported to the grey corridor; and I hug him right away.

"Thanks God" I whisper.

"What happened?!" He asks me "We all thought you were dead!"

"Well…" I say, as I pull back the tears and let go from his hug. "I'm not."

"You have no idea how happy they will be when- "

"No! Don't. Don't tell them. Jake, specially. Don't tell him I'm alive. It's… better if they move on. I'm not sure if I will go back." I look down, not trying to hide my sadness.

He has no words for a while.

"Once, I was training Jake and he did everything as he was supposed to do. Everything. He was so concentrated, so determinate. And when I asked him why, he answered it was nothing. But at night, while he slept, he said your name. Multiple times."

Now it's my turn to lose my words. I could barely believe it. He was…

"Training to get you back, he was. Every day, he tries to find ways to get to you. He's not so sad anymore; there's a light in his eyes. You make him stronger."

"No, I distract him! You said it once, remember? Said that our relationship was distracting him. And a distracted dragon…"

"… Is a slain dragon, I know. But I was wrong. That was just a phase; and I should have known that. I should have understood that he was just a teenager; I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. I know you were concerned about his safety. But I don't want to give him high hopes."

"Right…" He nods.

"And… what about my parents?"

"They think you were kidnapped. We couldn't tell them the truth, since it would be a huge cultural shock; and a great danger to all of us. I'm sorry…"

"That's fine." I lie. "I understand." And I think about my parents, alone, thinking the worst about what happened to their daughter.

"But what did you want to ask me?" He asks me, suddenly.

"Oh, yes. Yesterday I saw a few people that managed to open a portal to the dimension I was and open a new portal to get out of there, using a kind of remote control; but I was too late, and they were already gone. Do you know anything about it?"

"Not at the moment, unfortunately, but will search for it, that's for sure." He takes a pause. "Will you be fine?"

I take a deep breath. "Yes…" I say. I'm such a liar.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun rises in the grey sky and I can see things around me again. I sit by myself, under the trees; and wait until it's time to hunt. Guess I was really meant to be a huntress. All my life, I've hunted dragons; then, after I realized the world I had grown up in was sick and wrong, I began to hunt for a better life. And here I am, hunting again; to survive.

I don't know why but I cried only twice since I came here. That's the third. I guess I wanted to prove myself strong – but what for?

I think of how many times Jake possibly slept thinking I'd meet him. But I never did. I feel really lonely sometimes; but I guess that talking to myself, singing, or even going to dreamscape helps me a lot. The problem is the fear I have; to forget I'm dreaming and lose my mind to the bracelet; if I'm awake too abruptly.

_You fear so much…_

Oh, how I wish those words were my own. How I wish that was my voice. But I freeze as soon as I hear them, cause they didn't come from my mind; and worse: I know that voice, maybe better than anyone.

He's here, somewhere. I try as hard as I can to reach for my weapon, moving slowly. I sense his presence.

_And the funny thing is that you're afraid of something that you've walked by, for a long time. Have you forgotten, Huntsgirl?_

His voice hits me, making my heart race. More than it did before. I don't wait for him to talk again. My legs stand up in an instant, and I point the laser weapon to nowhere.

"I'm not afraid of you!" I say. "And you're not real. You're dead. This is nothing but an illusion. Another one. Get out!"

"You really think so?"

Ok, that scared me. Mainly because I know where the voice came from. I turn around, ready to see his face; but as soon as I meet his gaze, I feel like I wasn't prepared at all.

His face is uncovered, showing the big dragon mark that crosses it. His eyes are hungry, evil, in a way that tells the story of a man who had hated, who had loved, who had betrayed; and yet was surprised to be tricked by his closest partner.

"How?" I say, before I can stop myself. I feel anger inside my chest. "What are you doing here? How – how did you get here?" I wait for an answer; but all I get is laughter.

"You surely underestimate my powers." He says, walking towards me. "You think I'm dead; and you just tell yourself that because you're afraid."

"You don't know what you're tal- king… About…" I noticed it. On his right wrist, there's a small purple crystal out of his sleeve. "The bracelet…" I whisper, still staring at his wrist; but on the corner of my eyes, I can see his lips turned into a little smile. "This is a dream… My dream."

"Clever… And you know that I exist somewhere, right?" He says; and my stomach is tied up with my veins. I try not to nod to that, but I do; 'cause it's true. He must exist to go into someone's dreams like that. Besides, the bracelet is something solid, that only a real being could wear. "And… You're still here because…" Crap, I wish he'd stop talking; just… Stop! "Oh, right… You have nowhere to go. You can't get out of here. Again, alone."

"Did I ask for a therapy session?"

"Am I lying?"

I glare at him, trying hard not to punch his face.

"I'll find a way."

"I'm sure you will. And your… Friends." He laughs again. "Do you really think the American Dragon and his gang of fools are going to do something for you?" I don't like it. I know where he's leading this conversation to. "They would be glad to see you dead. After all you're done to them, why would they try to save you?!"

I make the move as fast as I can and try to punch him. Just try. Because my hand flies across him, taking my whole body with it; and I share a beautiful kiss with the ground.

"You know, someday, maybe, you will learn how to do that."

"To do what?!" I almost shout, touching my lips. If this weren't a dream, I would have broken my teeth.

"To control your physical structure when you're inside someone's dream, I could teac-"

"No!" I cut him off. "I'd never accept help from you. You know that."

He smiles. "Yes, Huntsgirl. I know it." Now, his voice didn't sound like a murderer trying to get their partner again. Or like a man wanting to prove something. It sounded like a father, who is trying to apologize to a daughter. That's sick.

"But you give me no choice" He continues. "There's something I'd like to show you" I try to reply, but I can't say anything. I try, but I can't. Something is shutting my mouth. And I can't move either. "Oh" He says. "And that's something I'd also teach you to do. But let's stick to the point".

The Huntsman draws a line in the air with his hand and a new portal opens up. I still can't talk or move. I don't know what he wants to show me; but I do know it's not good. And I have no choice but let him show me.

"Shall we?" He says, making me walk towards the portal. I'd shut my eyes, but I can't do that either. He just pushes me into the portal; and comes behind me. I'm a kind of glad I can't do anything; that my features are neutral – because he can't read what I'm feeling. And now I'm really afraid of what I might find.

—

After we pass through the portal, we end up in one of my memories, where I am sleeping in bed. But, for some reason, I wanted to see that scene, and the Huntsman noticed that. So he stopped and stared at the scene too.

My heart races. Suddenly, something flies into my room: a red dragon; who comes from outside through the open window and lands already turned into his human form.

Jake sits by my side on the bed and rests his hand on my head, something I had never seen him doing. And I don't think I'm going to see that again. A single tear falls from my right eye as he looks at me like I'm someone precious, for whom he had been fighting for centuries to be with. But it's not a crazy look, or an ambitious one – it's lovely, worried. My eyes open and I see him, sitting by my side.

"Hey" He says, smiling.

I yawn and say: "Hey yourself"; and raise my head to kiss him, wrapping my arms around his neck. When I let go, he whispers:

"Good morning…"

Immediately, I glance at the clock; and realize he's at my place at 3:00 am. I look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing here? I mean… Now…"

"I was waiting for you to say 'Good morning' " He says, speaking the "good morning" part with a little voice and blinking seductively.

"Okay, first: I don't talk like that. Second: I don't blink 10 times per second. Third: you didn't answer my question."

He looks at me with a playful smile on his face and stands up, turning the lights on. A white flash covers my vision; and, for while, I keep rubbing my fingers on my eyes. "What's the matter with you?!" I say, as my eyes try to adjust to the lights.

"I've got something to show you" He laughs a little. I stare at him.

"What are you laughing at?" I speak, smiling.

"It's funny to see you like that. You know… Sleepy and confused."

I shake my head, still smiling playfully. "I think you want to go home single…"

He doesn't say a thing; just walks towards the window and jumps from it, turning into a dragon again. I get up, worried about the fact that I might have hurt him; but as soon as I put my head out of the window, I spot Jake flapping wings a meter below my window.

"What are you waiting for?!" He says. "Jump on my back!"

The offer had indeed surprised me. And I see now that I made it clear, because my jaw dropped and my eyebrows curved.

"Jake… But… My parents…"

"Don't worry. I've talked to them."

"You did what? Wait, but-"

"Are you coming or not?! Don't think, just jump. Trust me."

I sighed and bit my lip. "Fine…" I frowned. Finally, I turned around, wore my jacket and shoes and jumped from my window, freefalling for a second and then landing on his back.

"Hang on!" He said.

I smiled. "As if I didn't know how to fly on dragons."

The Huntsman and I are transported to the place where Jake and I had landed; mainly because it is a memory, and we've got to see all of it. We end up at the Central Park, where, at night, the atmosphere is quite dark. But then it happened. A soon as Jake landed, there was a sudden flash of bright light – too bright for my eyes, at the moment.

"Are you trying to blind me or WHAT?!" I shout at him, but don't get a response. And when my vision goes back to normal, I start to recognize some familiar figures, although I can't really tell what they are until some seconds pass by, and then I see them all: my parents, Spud, Trixie, Fu, and Jake's family.

"I…" My words were lost. I remember. The explosion of feelings inside my chest; the hurricane of unspoken words, to which I had given strength inside my mind. That day was not an usual day. It was my birthday; and I had completely forgotten. Finally, I manage to whisper: "I can't believe this…" but I doubt they listened.

"SURPRISE!" They chorus and applaud.

I smile more than my face can support. "But… Why now?!"

"Well," my mother says. "We knew that if we did it now, you wouldn't suspect a thing."

"You're a person who is very hard to trick, you know that." Lao Shi said, grinning.

I walk towards her and give her a hug.

"Happy birthday, sweetie." I hear, as I feel someone kissing my forehead.

I was really thrilled. Those people really cared about me; they loved me. The feeling to have not just one, but two families of yours caring about how you feel is one of the best things in life. Maybe, the Huntsman had made a mistake stopping to watch this scene; he reminded me I have a reason to keep trying. Or maybe, it was what he wanted; to give me high hopes to crush them later.

"You're, indeed, more foolish than I had expected." He says, grabbing my attention. I keep my mouth shut, as he opens a portal with his hands. We walk into it and we end up at the Dream Corridor.

"I want to see how far you'd go to get your fools again."

"You don't know what you're talking about." I frown. "I don't want your help; and I don't want your tests either."

"Really?" He sings and opens another portal; but this one is different. I'm sure it isn't from Dreamscape. "That portal will send you home."

"You really think I'm that stupid." I say, a kind of shakily.

"Let me finish" He glares at me and I'm unable to speak or move again. I didn't notice I was back to normal until he did that to me once more. "It will send you home. That's for sure. But if you accept this help, it will be like a shortcut. You won't be playing this game correctly; they call it to cheat. You can waaaait there, sleeping, dreeeaming… BUT, you can use this portal; and you'll be back home in a clap of fingers. It's your choice. To be a waiter… Or a cheater."

The temptation is too strong. My head feels weak and unsteady, as too many thoughts run inside it, hitting each other. But one thought I seem to recognize: the one I might go back home, right now. _But it's dirty help_, I think. _But it'll send you back_, I think too. Two different people, arguing inside me.

Suddenly, everything happens so fast I'm not able to think. At a moment, I make a move to run towards the portal; but then, out of the blue, I feel a sharp pain in my belly, like a thousand knives cutting me, all at the same time. I fall to my knees, in pain.

"But don't forget" says a dark voice; different from Huntsman's. "Cheaters never win".

Those are the few words I listen, before everything goes black.


	4. Chapter 4

That's just too much light for my eyes. I open them, but a strong headache comes to meet me because of that. How much do I remember about my dreams? Wait, I went to Dreamscape... No, not really. Had I dreamed I went there?

I try to sit straight and look around, although the fact that I'm too dizzy for that. The only thing I manage to do, for some seconds, is breathing. Nothing seems to have changed. But then, on the corner of my eye, I notice a short, fat figure standing a few feet away from me.

As soon as I'm back to my senses, I turn to it at the speed of light, making my heart go up to my throat and down again. I don't know if I'm scared, worried or happy. Maybe the three of them - of course it's a mirage. What else could it be? That Shar Pei standing in front of me cannot be real.

He looks at me from head to toe and crosses his paws.

"Those years turned your mind into a seed..." He says, smiling. And, at that moment, I'm suddenly sure it's real. My heart, which was beating fast, now stops. I can't breathe. Actually, I could be dead right now cause none of my vital activities are working.

The next thing I know, I'm hugging him so hard that he could be dead as well.

"FU!" I say and kiss his head multiple times. But then my excitement turns into tears and I start to cry a river, hugging him harder.

"Uh, Rose?" His voice sounds like a whisper. "I. Can't. Breathe."

I let him go immediately and try to dry my tears. "Sorry... It's just that...'

"I know." Fu says and smiles. "I'm so relieved I found you..."

We hug again. "How did you get here?!"

"Well, Gramps and I found a solution. We tried to look for something in old books and documents, but it was a waste of time. I was talking to some buddies at the magical market, and I heard about a boy called Baljheet, who came up with a time-space-dimension-travelling theory."

"Right, Doctor."

He thought about my joke for a few seconds.

"Funny thing, your name is Rose..."

I smile. "Keep going"

"Oh, right. Those kids you saw running. They did that with his help. They traveled going with the flow of the dimension circle, which is a sort of a wheel that spins always in the same direction. So we managed to use it. But to go back, we'll have to pass through some dimensions until we complete the circle; cause we can't go to the opposite direction: we'd need too much energy; but that would be a good wait to cheat."

At the last word, my mind freezes. I remember this word, I heard it not long ago. I take some time to remember its author.

"THE HUNTSMAN!" I shout in an explosion of feelings. "He is alive!" I start to pace in circles. "We have to warn them we have to warn Jake and Gramps maybe Gosh we must-"

"Rose!"

I raise my head and look at him.

"Calm down." He says. "The Huntsman died. That's impossible."

I shake my head. "It's not. He came to me in my dreams wearing the bracelet. He took me to the Dreamscape corridor and made an offer about taking me back home."

I don't have to say anything else. Fu's eyes focus on the ground and he thinks for a while. "He must be in a 'limbo' between the living world and the other world. But how could he do it?"

"Maybe he's more powerful than we thought."

Although I can't exactly believe in what I just said, it seems to be no less than the truth. The Huntsman was raised by the power of the Aztec Skulls when I made the wish to destroy every member of the Huntsclan. He should've been killed. More than that; he should have been erased from everywhere in this universe; every trace he left should have disappeared. Huntsman 1x0 Us.

He should have been erased from everywhere in this universe..._ This_ universe... Which means _that_ universe, the world that I call home.

"Fu... What if _he_ can't return? What if he needs a kind of help to materialize in our dimension?"

"Well, if he's having trouble with that there's 100% of chance that he will find a way. You should know that better than me."

I don't say a thing; cause it's true. Then, finally, I speak. "We have to warn them. Maybe he's looking for something. And knows where to find it."

"Yep! Let''s go!"

He starts to walk and takes something out of his folds. I can't really believe.

"Now?" I ask him.

Fu stares at me like I'm an alien. My words weren't made of joy; but of fear and shock. I really don't know what to wait for, since I've been here for God know how long... Maybe many forgot about me.

"Oh, right!" He slaps his forehead. "I'm sorry! I didn't know you wanted to say goodbye. This place was really good to you, right? So... You wanna begin with the killer plants or the poisonous river?"

I glare at him.

"What? I'm just asking... But, you know, you're the passenger, so..." He pulls his folds up and sits on a rock, putting them down again. "When you give the order, we leave."

But I don't move. I just stare at the ground and let him look at him. "You're really scared, aren't you?"

I nod.

"Ok, first you get all dizzy and then you actually admit you're scared... Now I'M scared..." I glare at him again. "Ok, your feelings, not mine, you speak, I don't."

"What if it goes just like the Peter Pan story? A while after Wendy and her brothers went to Neverland, her parents started to lose hope; and it was like their children had been nothing more than a dream."

"Hold on... You fear your parents forgot about you?!"

"No, not _forgot_... But I fear things will never be the same again."

"Listen, you know that i'm not good with these emotional stuff, but everything you do and every word you say will change your life, in a way or another..."

I pause and think about it for a moment. He's right. Nothing will change if I just stay here until I die.

"Besides," he continues, "I'm Jake and Grandpa's guardian animal and I had to leave them unprotected to come and recue you. We didn't want the boy to know I's coming. So, yeah, I'm going against my job policies, and we should leave... Like, NOW."

I smile. I remember when I figured out the Huntsman was the reason why I hadn't grown up with my parents. I wasn't afraid. I was mad, really mad, but hopeful that I'd find them someday. Because I had a family; and having a family changes everything.

Now, I don't have just one, but two families; who were looking for me. They want me back. I'm now sure I'm going back to them.

"Shall we?" I ask Fu, grinning. He smiles back and picks the thing he had taken out of his folds: a blue key. He gestures with the key in his paw, as if opening an imaginary door. In fact, he is.

The portal opens.

"This will hurt a little" He says. "The energy necessary to travel is too intense, even if we go with the flow. Our bodies with have to give part of its energy on the crossing. But don't worry, we'll recover after some minutes."

I nod, breathing heavily. The scene happens in slow motion. I start with the left foot: now I'm two steps away from the portal. Right foot. It seems an eternity to get close to it. Left foot. Now I'm standing on my left leg; and I almost lose my balance. But I won't.

"Just go already!" Fu rolls his eyes.

I look back, frown at him, and take one last breath.

Right foot.


	5. Chapter 5

My stomach hurts like I've eaten nails. I try to get on my feet, confused about where to look at because of the pain. The Sun starts to rise on the horizon; and, when my stomach finally stops hurting, I take a deep breath, taking in the Central Park air: I'm home.

Fu Dog is next to me, still cursing his pain. "It's even worse if you do this twice! Ouch..." He looks at me. "Are you ok?!"

But right now, his words are just a noise. I look at my wrist, looking for my bracelet, to know if I'm dreaming. I look at my friend's as well; but no clue of it. I'm not dreaming... I'm not dreaming! This is real life! Real world, my dimension! I'm finally home. It seems like it's been two ice ages since the last time this ground was the one that held my feet.

I take my shoes off and play with my fingers on the grass. As if I'm completely out of mind, I run around the park, spinning around and jumping like a drunk crazy girl. I like how the grass tickles my feet, how the morning wind messes my hair up, how my vision turns upside down when I stop spinning. And I don't give a damn when I see Fu on the corner of my eye: I just want to feel this moment. Feel again.

When I'm out of breath, I open my arms and lie on my back on the grass.

"Kid?" I hear Fu's voice next to me, although I can't really see his face, since my eyes are closed. "Listen, if anyone sees you running and jumping like that, they'll probably send you to a mad house."

I open my eyes and roll them. "C'mon, I'm just feeling the moment..."

"You know what I think? I think you got bored and spent all this time smoking weed."

"There was no weed back there." I frown at him.

"Oh!" He fakes surprise. "So you looked for it..."

I glare at him. "Give me a break."

Fu takes a few steps away from me and, when I get up, he says:

"But hurry, Kit Kat. There are people waiting for you..." The sentence ends with a smile on his face; and, soon enough, a smile on mine as well.

My house is four blocks away from the Central Park, so we have to walk for about 20 minutes to get there. When we do, all I'm able to do is to stare at the front door, as if pretending I'm made of stone.

"It seems like you're a statue." Exactly. He continues. "It's your front door, not Medusa's eyes." I know he's still looking at me but I don't make a move.

"Can... You..." He's about to poke my shoulder, but I turn around as fast as I can and make a face to him. He puts his paws back on the ground, like an ordinary dog. He always walks like that around the city.

"Now you're pushing your luck..."

"You just don't want to admit I scared you."

"No, no, you scared me, scared me as hell. But don't worry about me; cause if I pee, everyone will consider it normal. That's one of the perks of having a dog's body.

I laugh at first, but then I think better about what he said. A dog's body?

"Well" He says. "Since you're at home, it won't be a problem if I deliver you now, will it? I have to show up at Gramps' to tell him we're back and okay. You'll go there later, right?"

I shrug it off. "I'll consider it, for you."

"No, not for me. There's someone there that I'm sure will be very... _Glad_ to see you." He says the word "glad" blinking several times and smiling. I feel a blush rise to my cheeks right away.

"I don't know why you guys blink like that when you try to speak like me. Or to do any reference to me." I try to control my voice, to avoid it sounds shaky.

He blinks like it again. "Like how?"

"Stop it, just GO already!" I smile and he keeps looking at me for a while; then he turns around and runs to the store.

I don't know why, but I feel more fearless now. It's easier to walk towards the door, taking each of the six steps up the stairs. As soon as I open the main door, I spot the other stairs; the ones that lead to each floor. I run so fast to go up that I think they're going to fall. At each step, I release all the pain and frustration I held back when trying to keep control. Finally, I get to my floor and recognize my door.

But I don't stop and stare at it like I did before, although I'm not completely sure of what I will find. I knock. 1. 2. 3. Nothing; not a sound. Then, I see my third knock actually opened the door a little. So I push it and look around at what was supposed to be my living room.

But what I see sends shudders down my spine.

Well, I don't know where to Begin with. Apparently, the Katrina is back and it came to visit my family a few minutes ago. The place is a mess; no one could tell it was once what I called home. I take a while to absolve the shock.

The sofa is upside down, the TV is broken; and all the vases and lamps are shattered on the ground; not to mention the walls, covered with grey and black hand marks.

I step forward, carefully. Was my family here when it all happened? What if- don't you dare think about it!

I walk, trying not to get cut. The steps that released my pain seconds ago now bring it back; I can't believe it. It took me so long, so long to come back, to finally see the ones I love again, to hug them and say how I missed them, to have a brand new life, a new _real_ life. But I was a fool to believe that would actually happen.

I catch myself thinking about it for a while too long; because when I realize, I'm already in front of my parents' bedroom door, trying to hold back a scream.

My mother is on the ground, passed out. Right now, I hope she's passed out. Guess I'm a kind of afraid to check it, but I know I should, so I walk closer and check her pulse. I sigh – she's alive.

Her leg is covered with blood, but I can see the cut and it's not a deep one. Anyway, I try the hardest to wake her up. I poke her many times, say her name; but it's worthless. The desperation in seeing her well hits me like a rock inside my chest and I start to let a few tears escape.

"Please…" I whisper, begging her to open her eyes. And after an eternity trying, I let myself cry.

I cry for my mother, for my father; God know where he's now…

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain on the back of my head, as thousand of black butterflies darken my vision.

—

"What did you do?!"

"I didn't know it was her!"

"She's been lost for all this time and at the day she returns you simply knocks her out?!"

"I didn't mean it, I didn't know!"

I wake up with shouts forming a discussion between two people. Their voices sound familiar. A man and a woman.

When I'm back to my senses, I'm able to see clearly again: my mother is awake and shouting at my dad. Guess he was the one who hit my head. They look really worried.

"Rose!" Mom notices I woke up and rushes to hug me. I hug her back, feeling her tears on the back of my neck. We break apart and she holds my face with both hands, looking at me. My smile is bigger than my face can support.

"Oh my God, where have you been what happened to you who took you oh I swear I'll make them pay for-"

"Mom…" I say. "It doesn't matter. I'm here and I'm fine." I remember about her injury. "What about your leg?"

"That's just a cut. Large, but it's not deep."

I look at the person standing behind her. My father didn't rush to hug me, guess it's because my mother accused him of almost killing me. I don't blame him; mom's accusations can be really hard. So I do it myself: I stand up and hug him strongly, until I feel his hug in response.

"Welcome back." He whispers.

"Thanks."

"And, uh… I'm sorry I…" He pulls away. "You know… knocked you out."

I smile. "That's fine. I like to see you can defend yourself and mom… But… What happened here?"

My mother sighs. "Some people broke in and started to look for something. I mean, look desperately for something."

"Did you see their faces?" I ask her.

"Their faces, no. But they were two boys, who had weapons and everything. They tied your father up and cut my leg-"

"-to paint the stealing." I say, cutting her off.

"Paint what?"

As a response, I just point my finger at the stealing. My dad takes a step back as if trying not to lose his balance. Mom gasps. And I feel anger running through my veins, as I read each one of the words again and again. Words those assholes painted with my mother's blood:

"_Cheaters never win_."


	6. Chapter 6

Everything comes like a flash before my eyes: the Dreamscape, the man I hate, the portal; and the sentence I've just read. And when I think about him, another person comes to my mind, the one who he tried to kill several times: Jake.

I panic inside.

"Dad" I jump on my feet. "Take mom to he hospital to see if she's got any infections. I… Have to go." I don't know if my voice sounded shaky, but I don't care.

"No, you're not going anywhere! We still have to find out who's the responsible for-"

"I know, dad, I know. But not right now, I REALLY have to go…"

"Rose…" My mother says. "We won't lose you again."

I walk towards her and take her hand in both of mine. "You won't. I'll see you guys later, ok?"

With a huge afford, my mother nods; and I get out of my apartment. As soon as I'm out of their sight, I start running as fast as I can. If those guys were after something, I bet they had looked for it in another place before they went to mine; and thinking about it makes my whole body turn cold.

When you're in danger, adrenaline helps to increase your physical resistance, as a defense. And I can almost taste it right now.

—

I run so fast that, when I stop, I can't fell my legs. But I don't hesitate: when I spot the door I'm looking for, I kick it and it falls to the… Floor?

If it had been a floor once, I can't see it. It's covered by pieces of broken glass and TVs and fans and all the stuff that once was on the shelves. I climb on the door, which fell on a fan. I can hear my own heartbeats.

"JAKE!" I shout, in the hope of hearing something back. I'm really stupid; of course they're not here; whoever did this must have taken them away. Looking at the bright side of this situation, obviously.

I start looking for something; any clue, anything. Just think about the moment: when did they do this? How long has it been since they left?

I spot a cup of tea, which must be Grandpa's. He used to drink it hot every morning; hotter than a human being can support. Dragons… When I touch the cup, it's cool; so Fu got here after the chaos.

"FU?! Gosh, where are you?!" I hear noises coming from behind the curtains, which hide a small room. I walk towards it, being careful not to hurt my feet and raising my arms so that I can keep my balance. And as soon as I open the curtains, I see Fu sitting on the ground, with his eyes focused on something beyond the floor.

I stare at him for a while until he finally speaks up.

"I failed, Rose… My mission… To be their animal guardian… I-" And he stops.

"You didn't FAIL-"

"Really?! HOW CAN YOU HAVE A DROP OF HOPE THAT THEY'RE STILL ALIVE?"

I freeze. My voice sounds cold and quiet. "I was trying to hold on to that."

He looks away. I've never seen Fu shout like that.

"The Huntsman must have taken them away" I say, breaking the silence. "So, maybe, we could ask for help. Maybe someone who has already located his lair once or twice…"

He looks back at me. "Spud…"

I smile. Or, at least, try to. "Yeah. So are you taking your dirty butt out of there or what?"

He smiles and picks a notebook from a shelf. While he makes some notes, I truly don't know what for, I look at the stand and spot a small piece of paper, with something written in Lao Shi's handwriting: _TOWSD_. I don't even know if it's a word.

"Ok…" Fu says. "I have to go somewhere first. Meet me at the Long's in 30 minutes."

"Where are you going?"

"East."

I cross my arms. "How exact."

"You want me to go to your place? It's East. And closer to me."

"No, that's fine. Thanks."

He raises his paw to the right side of his forehead and moves it quickly at my direction, as saying goodbye. And then turns around and leaves.

I've walked during 20 minutes and now I'm standing in front of Jake's home. That's enough time to remember there's some time I don't take a shower.

Fu arrives and there's a backpack with him.

"That's for you." He says and hands it to me.

"How…"

"I did go to your house. I brought clothes, in case you wanna take a shower here."

I stare at him. "Am I smelling that bad?"

"Nah…" He shakes his head and then puts his index finer and thumb close to each other. "Maybe THIS little…"

"Won't you ring the bell?!"

He goes up the stairs and rings it. Some seconds pass by and I hear a voice that, as I recall, it's Spud's. But when the doors open, it's not him that I see.

There's an Asian girl staring at me, with her eyes wide open. She's really pretty – must be around 18. What-

"Rose…" I hear a male voice as a man shows his face, beside the girl. He has a little beard and his hair is messy. And then, only then I begin to link the points: I didn't know how long I've been away. Now I do.

Cause I'm in front of Haley Long and Arthur Spudinsky.

6 years. I've been lost during 6 years. I can't believe it.

"H-How…" She says. I smile and gesture at Fu.

I run towards them and hug them really hard. This looks like a dream - all the hugs and tears I've always wished for. But I know it's not; 'cause there's someone missing.

I let go and see Haley is crying.

"Hey..." I say, holding her face in both of my hands and drying her tears with my thumb. She may be a woman now, but I'm acting like she's still that little girl.

"You're… Jake... Gramps..." She says.

"I know. I know, we'll get them back."

She nods and I let her go. We walk in and Spud slaps me on the back.

"It's really good to see you."

"It's good to see you too."

"Ouch!" He says when I slap him on his back.

"Sorry..." Guess that one came out too strong.

We explain to Spud what we need him to do.

"Wait..." He says. "But how do I find them? Ya know, there's no clue this time."

Fu smiles. "Actually, there is. A few years ago, we implanted a microchip inside his head."

"You what?!"

"Yep. We did it so that we could track him. It made things a lot easier. Anyway..." He puts his paw inside his folds and takes a paper out of it. "Here's the code."

"You REALLY did this?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Fu nods.

I shake my head in disbelief. "Awesome... I wish we had done it before."

Fu blinks one eye while doing a lay down L with his hand and a click with his mouth.

"You know what... Guess things have just started to work out." Spud says, smiling at us.

That's when we hear the doorbell and a boy calling Haley.

"And... My good thoughts collapse."

"Who's that?" I ask.

"Alex. Haley's evil boyfriend."

She lets her head fall to one side while looking at him. "C'mon! He's not EVIL..."

"Haley! Are you there?!" We hear the boy again, and she turns around to get the door, while Spud looks at her with sad eyes.

I get closer to him.

"What's up with the evil thing?"

"He's a jerk. And disgusting. And stupid. And an asshole."

"So it has nothing to do with your..." I mutter the following words. "Feelings for her?"

"What?" He seems shocked. "You've just come back, what the hell you're talking about- no, no, this is sick and wrong..."

I raise an eyebrow. "Is it?"

"Just like when you watch a show and there're those two characters that no one would ever think of them as a couple, and then one day you read a fanfic that ships them and you're like 'this is sick and wrong!'"

I keep staring at him and he stares at me back, until she's back with the evil boy, and I shrug it off. Fu puts his front paws on the ground and barks.

"So, girl, friends of yours?" He asks her.

"Yeah, guess you know Spud..."

"Of course." He lowers his head and raises it again. "Baked Potato Head."

Spud smiles. "Mind and ass made of plastic..."

"Too long."

"Three Longs and you're out."

"AND," Haley cuts them off. "This is Rose."

"WOW!" He walks to me. "You're THE Rose?! Finally, I've always wanted to meet you. Why couldn't you answer our messages?"

"You see, there was A LOT of interference around where I was..."

"They have to fix those communication problems..."

"You tell me..." I raise my shoulders and let them fall back into place. "So, I must take a shower. I'll go back home-"

"No, what? Does she really have to go all the way to her house just to take a shower?!" Alex says.

Haley nods. "That's right Rose. You can take it here, if you want to."

"Are you sure?"

"No kidding. C'mon."

She walks up the stares with me and points at the bathroom.

"I know you remember where the bathroom is, but I wanted to show you the towels are inside this closet now. I'll lend you some clothes."

I smile. "You don't need to, Fu brought me some of mine. But thanks, Hales. Really, thanks."

She hugs me again. "I just wish he was here."

"Me too..."

She smiles sadly and goes back to the living room.

I get inside the bathroom with my bag and lock the door, taking my clothes off afterwards. I open the closet and, when the towel is on the stand, I open the glass door and stand under the shower, closing it later.

The water starts to fall when I turn the shower on. It falls cold at first and I feel a shock - but it warms up as the time passes by. I open the little window, next to my head, so that the vapor won't damage the closets and the door, which are made of painted wood.

That's when something back appears on the corner of my vision. And, without time to react, I feel my neck is being squeezed.

.

.

.

.

.

**_Author Notes:_**

_Thanks for reading, guys! Really, that means a lot._

_I hope you're liking it :)_

_See ya ;) **xoxo**_


	7. Chapter 7

It's too strong; it's squeezing my neck and I'm losing the capacity to think or to move. I'm desperate for air, that's the only thing I'm capable of affirming to myself; and I scratch the thing, I grab it, but it's not gonna let go. I kick the nothingness, think the obvious. Still hear those voices, echoing my name. All around seems deformed and shaky, spinning, turning upside down.

But I recognize something. Right next to me, guess I touched it minutes ago. Or would it be hours?

I grab it and it's made of metal, cold, wet metal. My hand searches for anything else and I end up touching something cold and plain. "It's the glass" I think.

I kick the glass door, that I used to take the shower. I kick it with all strength I've got, but it's not enough. It won't break like that.

I remember of the shower hose I was holding. I start to hit it on the door multiple times, but I don't even hear the noise.

I stop for a moment and try to ignore the thing suffocating me to death. I hold on to the hose and hit the glass one last time.

I hear a crack. Another crack. I kick it and it breaks in pieces that fall to the ground; but I'm able to grab one of those pieces. I move my hand towards the creature and stab it with the piece of broken glass. It gives a high scream but doesn't let go of my neck. I stab it once more and green blood covers the ground I'm "standing" on.

The relief is immediate, but it seems to hurt even more. The thing turns its body to all sides on the ground, in pain. When I'm about to stab it one last time, I hear a strange noise and smell wood burning.

It all happens in a second: the creature jumps to grab my face, but Haley runs in and cuts it in two halves before it even touches my nose.

I stare at it. I've seen this thing before. But right now all I feel is lack of air and like vomiting or fainting. I could do both. But I won't, I must hold on.

When I look at Haley, she's with her hair all messed up, a part of it covering her face. On her right hand, there's a sword.

"A-a s-s-swo-ord?!" I whisper. I'm still weak.

"Yes. It's decorative." She says, breathless. Then I notice the hole on the bathroom door; she probably opened it with her fire.

At that moment, Fu races in and looks at me, a kind of scared, and turns his head away from me quickly. Then he goes near the shower and sees the dead creature.

"It's..." He begins, without looking at me.

"Yep." I say, this time it sounded better, but my voice is still weak. "A Shadow Dragon."

Haley's jaw drops. "You mean, a REAL one?"

I nod.

Fu thinks for a moment.

"But they kinda faded away when we sent Him to that hell of dimension... Right?!" He is still not looking at me.

"I was counting on that." I say.

"You mean..." Haley speaks. "That He is back? The Dark Dragon?!"

We hear footsteps and Spud walks at a fast pace through the hole, holding and looking at his laptop. As soon as he sees me, his eyes go wide open.

"WOW..." He says as he closes his eyes and turns around, taking a few steps back and standing, making us look at this back.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I think the question is 'what isn't it?'"

Only then I realize: I'm completely naked. I try helplessly to reach for the clothes on the stand, but Haley is faster and hands me a towel.

Fu, who was looking at the opposite way, laughs and scratches his back.

I glare at him, squeezing the towel.

"Anyway..." Spud says. "I have great-" He looks at the shower and sees the dragon. "What is that thing?"

"A Shadow Dragon, member of a species that was used as guards by the Dark Dragon." I say. "Proceed."

"Don't say His name like that!"

"He's a dragon, not Lord Voldemort... PROCEED..."

"Okkie Donkie... I found Jake and Grandpa's location."

We all smile.

"They're at the bay."

"Well..." I say. "That's pretty close."

"The West Bay of Greenland-"

"WHAT?!" We chorus, as he raises his shoulders as if trying to hide his own head between them.

Fu crosses his paws. "Greenland, man are you serious?!"

He nods.

That's when we hear screams. Male screams. But they are coming from the computer.

"Spud..." Haley whispers.

He looks at the laptop, about to cry. "That's coming from the tracker."

"You mean-"

"Don't say it. We all know what it means."

The anger I feel is so strong that it hurts when it goes through my throat, that has just been squeezed. I walk towards Spud and say:

"The Huntsman. The Dark Dragon. It doesn't matter, not anymore, not to me. They are TORTURING them. Torturing US." I walk to the door.

"And I want both DEAD." I say as I turn around and leave the bathroom.

I come back and grab the clothes. "But before I need to change."


	8. Chapter 8

We are on the plane, on our way to Greenland. I talked to my parents and begged to come.

Spud got tired and turned aside to sleep. After some time, while he's sleeping like a log, Haley starts to talk to me.

"Is your neck any better?"

I touch it under the scarf and it hurts.

"Let me see." She says, taking the scarf out of my neck. And it was good she did so; after my brilliant experience with neck surrounding, I was beginning to panic.

"Is it too bad?" I ask her.

"It's formed a hematoma. But it will heal..."

I smile. "Thanks for cutting that thing in the middle."

"That was nothing..."

Spud snores a little and we look at him.

"It's so good to see Spud like that. You know, sleeping well."

I don't say anything cause I have no idea of what she's talking about. And before I could, she speaks again.

"Is your dreamcatcher with you? You know, the one we gave you on your birthday."

"I don't know..." I say and search on the little bag I brought. Right under my t-shirt, there it is. My dreamcatcher.

"Weird... I didn't think of bringing it." I say, but kind of regret it later. Maybe it might have offended Haley; but when she talks again, she doesn't seem offended.

"I know, it must have been Fu. He told that we'd have to face our nightmares - I don't know what he means."

"He's certainly facing a nightmare: the pet plane compartment."

She laughs. "Yeah... But, anyway, it's good for Spud."

"What do you mean?" I look at her for a while, waiting for an answer. She sights.

"No one told you?"

I start to get cold. "What?"

"It happened last year." She says. "Trixie and Spud were crossing the street and a drunk asshole was driving on the same street, taking the turn to where they were. The car was going so fast that Trixie didn't see it." I hold my breath. "Spud realized what was going to happen, so he pulled her hard to his side, and the car hit a tree a few feet away. But when he pulled her, she lost her balance and fell, hitting the back of her neck on the sidewalk."

When she's done, I can hardly speak. Many things run through my mind, cause she didn't say what really happened to Trixie.

"What happened?" I ask, impatient.

"She's not dead, but she lost movement of both legs..." She gives me a sad smile. "It was really hard for her, since she loves skateboarding. But it way harder for him." She looks at Spud. "Spud spent all this time blaming himself for what happened. During the first months, so did she, kinda - you know how Trixie is. But she never told him that. Later, she started to see him like a hero, because he saved her. Although that he didn't see it at all."

I can't really believe at her words. I take some time to take it in, but don't say anything. She seems to understand my difficulty to absorb it all and turns aside to sleep.

Suddenly, I feel the weigh that my adrenaline has been avoiding; and I close my eyes.

—

I'm flying. My wings are not fairy wings nor little bird wings. They are bat ones. I fly for a while, looking at the darkness below and smelling and feeling what I can't see. I'm-

"Rose?!"

I look around and there's nothing. I hear my name again and again.

Am I going mad?

I feel a sudden incapacity inside my chest and, when I realize, I'm falling.

I fall and fall as if I'm falling through a hole to the center of the Earth, and, the farther I get, the brighter this light I see beyond me gets. And...

I'm on the ground.

Wait... Seconds ago I was falling and now I'm lying on the ground without an injury. I'm definitely going mad. I-

"Rose?"

I raise my head and see two people in front of me. Two girls. One is blonde and the other has black hair; but both have very similar faces. And I've seen them before.

The Oracle Twins.

The one with black hair is Kara. She's always cynical and indifferent because she only sees happy things that will happen. And if you only see happy things, they lose their meaning, that is being better than sad things.

The blonde one is Sara, the one who sees bad things. She's usually happy and laughing about what she predicts; but this time, she's not happy at all.

She's sad.

I jump to my feet and look at them, who are both wearing the bracelets. Whatever the message is, I bet it's no good.

"Hey..." I say, rubbing the back of my neck. I think about why they want to help me, since I nearly killed them some years ago, when I was the Huntsgirl. But then I remember about Jake's wish, and that this actually never happened.

"We need to warn you, Rose." Sara says, worried. "I've seen something really bad; but I can't even tell you clearly."

I raise an eyebrow. "What? Why?"

"We can't." Says Kara. "It's a fixed point in time; if we tell you what it means, you'll try to avoid it."

"Avoid what? What meaning?"

They look at each other and sight.

"The old wizard should die."

I'm speechless. What the hell does that mean?!

"Now we must go."

"What?! No, you have to-"

"Remember: it's not your fault."

They start to fade away.

"My fault?! What?! Wait!"

And I wake up suddenly, breathless.

Haley was sleeping beside me but as soon as I woke, so did she.

"Are you okay?" Haley asks me. "I thought the dreamcatcher would work on you too."

I shake my head. "It wasn't a nightmare. Kara and Sara came to 'warn me'".

Haley crosses her arms. "About..."

"I don't know! They said 'the old wizard should die' and just... Fade away."

She sighted. "Well... Let's see, maybe it will soon make sense."

Then, the pilot tell us that we'll land within 10 minutes; and I grab the dreamcatcher, putting in between my hips and my pants, since I don't have pockets or a small purse. We'll maybe need it.

I try to take what the twins said away from my mind. But it's obvious I can't; I know that, whatever happens, I'm gonna feel like I'm the one to blame.

—

We arrive at Greenland and wait for Fu to get thrown on the treadmill. Then, we hear someone cursing when a dog box falls from a tunel.

We pick it and open it as soon as we're out of the airport.

"Okay." He says, rubbing his butt. "Next time we pretend I'm a baby, got it?! I don't like-"

"Trixie!" Spud cuts him off.

"No, what the hell?! I've never said that!"

"No!" Spud points at somewhere behind us. "Trixie is over there!"

When we turn around, we see Trixie controlling an automatic wheelchair, coming toward us.

I smile when she sees me, and her jaw drops.

"Yo, Rose!"

I run and hug her.

"Hey!"

"It's been a while, huh?" She says, pulling back.

I laugh a little. "Yeah, a little while..."

"You ok?" She says in a more serious tone now.

"Yes, I mean, sorta... You?"

She looks down at her chair.

"I'm much better. My mother met a woman that makes automatic wheelchairs. You won't believe it girl! It can go as fast as a car and fly like a rocket."

My eyes go wide open. "A FLYING wheelchair?!"

"Cool, isn't it?!"

"Amazing!"

She looks over my shoulder. "Hey guys!"

"Not that I'm not happy to see you..." Spud says. "But what are you doing here?!"

"I'm gonna help you to find Jakie and Gramps. Duh..."

"Wait for me!" We hear a distant voice and Trixie rolls her eyes. I turn around and spot a guy running towards us. When Spud sees him, he sights.

"What is HE doing here?!"

"He begged to come..." Trixie says. "Be nice."

Fu laughs and looks above. "Like you're the one that can tell him that... You threw a CHAIR at that guy once."

"Real size?!" I ask.

"Real. Size."

Trixie makes a face to him.

When the guy reaches us, I see why Spud is upset: it's Alex.

"Alex?!" Haley says.

"Haley, love!" He runs again and kisses her. But she didn't seem like wanting to kiss him back.

"Now what are YOU doing here?"

"I came to help you!"

There's a moment of silence. She looks at Fu and Spud and then at Me and Trixie.

"You barely know my brother..."

He puts a hand on her shoulder. "But I care about you." He says, while Spud mimics the last three words.

We walk on the empty streets. The houses are simple but cute.

While we keep moving, I tell Fu about the Oracle Twins.

He suddenly seems sad.

"The wizard, you said?"

"Yes... But we don't know any wizard... Do we?"

He took a pause. "No I don't think so..."

Then, suddenly, I spot a giant building. A building in the middle of a small village.

"WHATA..."

"What?!" Fu asks me.

"Wha-just-d-d-don't you see it?!"

Everyone kept their silence for a while.

"See... What, exactly?" Haley says.

How can't they see it?! I start to move my arms up and down, trying to call their attention to the building.

"THIS BUILDING!"

They exchange looks and look at me again.

Haley speaks again. "Rose, you ok?"

"Oh..." I say in a mocking way. "So now you think I'm mad..." I move my index finger in circles near my head. "MAD, crazy!"

"You're scaring me..." Fu says. "But maybe the building is there."

"That's right-" Haley starts but then looks at Fu. "What? There's nothing."

"You see nothing. Bust because you can't see the air does it mean it's not around? Wake up, Hales."

"Why only I can see it?" I ask Fu.

I think he was about to say something, but instead he looks down at my left wrist.

"Rose... Your dragon mark... It's surrounded by green."

I raise my wrist and look at it. It's true. There's some kind of power inside that place; and if it's surrounding my dragon mark, it seems...

"We have to go in there."

"How am I supposed to walk inside a place I can't see?" Spud says.

"It might seem invisible on the outside. But as soon as you get inside, it becomes visible. Like a disguise." I say.

It takes a while, but they finally nod. We walk towards it and I try to think of a way to go into it.

"I can dig on this earth until we're under the building floor and then Haley can give me a hand. Or a fire."

We agree and he starts to dig. Haley, Trixie, Alex and Spud follow him; and when I'm about to follow them, I look at the ground and there's a word drawn on a rock.

"_TOWSD_"


	9. Chapter 9

The place is completely silent. There's a long and large hallway, right in front of us; and another one which goes from one side to another. Everything is green.

Anyone would say this place is harmless, inhabited. But there's something in the air that keeps hitting my nose and mind, making me shiver: the smell of blood.

"We have to split up." Spud says.

I shake my head. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. We need to stay together. It's safer."

Considering the dimensions of this place, it's really probable that if we decide to go alone, we'll get lost.

Haley makes a noise with her teeth, because of the cold wind that comes suddenly.

"Don't worry, babe. I'm here." Alex hugs her and she makes a face.

"Thanks..." She says, pulling back. "I'm cool." I laugh a little, but not loud enough for them to hear.

We decide to walk to the left. Trixie goes in the front and I go in the back. I spot Haley in front of me, while Spud approaches to her.

"Hey" he says, taking something from his bag. "Do you want your coat?"

"You brought my coat?!"

"Just in case, ya know. One more piece of cloth on you won't hurt."

She smiled and put the coat on.

"Thanks... I..." That's when she stops talking and everyone stops walking. Ahead of us, we see a silhouette, coming towards us; which makes everybody get prepared to fight. But as the figure comes closer, it shows others behind it. And suddenly, they're not just silhouettes anymore: they're people; people we know.

The first one to reach us is Sun. She's wearing her usual hippie cloths, and a smile on her face.

Haley runs to see her, her eyes bright with hope, until Fu shouts.

"Careful! They're not real! They're ghosts!"

"Ghosts?!" I ask him.

"Not really. They're creatures who steal the appearance of a person you miss or love, and start to torture you with it. Don't listen to anything she says, Haley!"

But it seems that, in fact, Haley isn't listening to anything Fu says. She just keeps on walking. I don't know how to get her out of this; it's like she's hypnotized, by the false hope. And I don't blame her.

When I turn around, I see someone getting closer to me.

Jake.

"Fu..." I try to keep control. "What should I do?!"

"Say something you'd NEVER say to the real person."

"Okay..." I say with a shaky voice, while fake Jake stands in front of me. But he's so similar... The eyes, the skin, the smile. Everything is as I had longed to see.

"Oh Rose..." He speaks with his old voice, and my heart melts. Although that what he says next makes it break. "Why would you have to be such a weigh to carry?! I was under depression because of you, because you were careless and got lost inside that dimension." He starts to cry; and I think that so do I. I can't really tell. "How can I even trust you again?"

"I'm sorry..."

"ROSE!" Fu shouts to me. "HE IS NOT REAL!"

"I..." Think. You need to think. Something you'd never tell Jake, not in a million years. Just think, and keep control.

Suddenly, I know exactly what I must say; so take a deep breath and look at his eyes.

"I don't love you. I've never loved you and I will never be able to love you!"

Each one of those words hurts me as much as would hurt real Jake; and I try not to cry, despite of the tears that I see on his face. Finally, he starts to fade away; and I no longer see him in front of me; feeling relieved, but also sad.

I hear Trixie's voice, sharp and rude, like she's disgusted. I bet that's not really her. "You destroyed my life, Spud. I hate you, I hate you!"

I run towards Spud and tell him that's not real; and what he must say. He is pretty fast actually; he just says "I don't care about you" and the ghost disappears.

I look around and Trixie is alone; maybe her ghost already disappeared.

But there's someone left: Haley. She cries, standing in front of Sun, who keeps saying things which make her sob even more.

"Why Sun?!" I ask Fu.

Fu tries to get her attention, but it's worthless; all she's able to do is to listen to what fake Sun says.

"I don't know" he says, finally. "It's Haley."

I touch Spud's shoulder and say: "We must do something that wakes her up!"

And I can't really tell what went through Spud's head at that moment. All I know is that he grabs Haley's shoulder and kisses her softly; pulling back right after. She is stunned for a moment; but then she turns to Sun and realizes she's not real.

"I... I-I will never do my homework, ever again. I didn't even like when you gave me lessons."

And by the end of the last sentence, Sun was gone. I smile.

She hasn't changed.

"Let's go" Fu says. "We must find a way to... Oh..."

When I see it, Haley is kissing Spud and then lets him go.

Fu whistles twice and Haley makes a face to him; but then looks again at Spud. Both of them smile.

—

We take a while, but we finally get to the end of the "green area". But I don't know how to go on.

"At the entrance..." Fu says "There was a word, on a stone, remember? Do you remember the word?"

I nod. But I didn't know Fu saw that as well. "Towsd. But-"

"There!" Trixie says, pointing at a letter on the top of the first door: T

"They're just letters, maybe it's in order; just to locate the rooms."

"So why is the next door's letter an O?"

I run towards the door she talked about and see the O on it. Then, I run to the next one and see an W.

That's enough to convince me. Whatever this word means, it's leading us to the right place; and, right now, that's all we need. Maybe we will go home today, everyone safe, and with Jake and Gramps.

Maybe we can find a way out. Maybe we will.

Finally, I spot the door with a D.

Fu approaches and touches the door handle; then he picks something from his folds and fits it in the keyhole. Suddenly, something comes to my mind.

"Fu..." I say. "Why there wasn't a ghost for you?"

He doesn't even turn to me; he keeps trying to unlock the door, but speaks, eventually.

"Let's just say that... I have some kind of magic that protects me from that."

I know he won't say it, so I don't ask anything more.

There is a click and the door opens. Fu rushes inside and I stand near the door, while the others do the same as him. I hear a noise of chains and a weak voice whispering something I'm not able to understand. Then another click, and another.

"FU!" The voice which was weak now seems stronger. It doesn't take longer for my eyes to adjust to the darkness; and as soon as they do, I see it all.

Jake is hugging Fu, with a huge smile on his face. He holds the talking dog and kisses his mouth suddenly. I can't help it and laugh.

Fu cleans his mouth with his paw. "Yo, Jake, don't do that again!"

Lao Shi is beside him, happy too. But when his eyes meet mine, his tiny eyes go wide open.

"JAKE!" Haley rushes into the cell and hugs her brother.

Jake hugs her back. "You guys rock!" He says. "I can't believe you all came here!... Spud! Trixie!" He raises his head and sees his friends, who walk/wheel towards him to hug him too.

But I don't go there. I don't run to see what I had waited so bad to see. I just feel the butterflies in my stomach and the heavy sensation inside my chest; that only get worse when his eyes meet mine; and everything stops.

"Back off!"

What?

He said that. He's shouting at me. Why?

"BACK OFF!"

His grandfather touches his shoulder. "Young dragon..."

"She's not real! She's one of those ghosts, I know!"

Great. He thinks I'm a ghost.

"She... She's real, Jake." Fu says.

Jake stares at me and then at the shar pei.

"How..."

"She is."

It's stupid, but I start to cry. I walk to him, not too fast, and stand right in front of him. He touches my cheek; and starts to cry too; but two seconds later, he kisses me. And I kiss him like an 6 years after kiss, like a forever after kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck and he pulls me closer, grabbing the back of my coat. I run my fingers through his hair.

When we finish, I'm breathless. I put both of my hands on his face.

"You-you're back." He whispers, smiling.

"I'm back..."

"YOU'RE BACK!" He says and hugs me, raising me from the ground and spinning around. I laugh hard.

"Yeah!" I say, laughing; and, for a moment, I just keep looking at him, remembering how his eyes are.

"You KNOW that he kissed me before he kissed you, right?" Fu says and everyone laughs when I make a face to Jake.

I put a hand on my hips and make a circle in the air with my index finger. "I can't believe a DOG just stole mah man!"

Then, completely out of the blue, Alex appears at the door. "HEY! I found a way out!"

We stare at him. He looks like he's been running, but how could he find us? In fact, I don't remember seeing him since the ghost accident.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Trixie asks him, with an eyebrow raised.

"I was trying to find a way out of here; and I did! C'mon!"

"Hey, wait there-"

And he runs away from the cell. Haley runs to follow him, making us follow her. What is she thinking?

We run, covering several hallways, and running past a huge glass wall; while Haley shouts his name, begging him to stop; then, he takes one last turn. But as soon as I take it, I hit Jake's back, who stands like a statue, just like the rest of my friends.

It's only some seconds later that I see what he's staring at, the reason why everyone stopped running: a man, with a metal dragon skull on his head and face. Behind him, there's a giant dark-purple dragon; and lots smaller shadow dragons.

The Huntsman smiles at the Dark Dragon and, turning his head to me, says:

"Hello, Huntsgirl."

.

.

.

.

.

.

**_Author Notes:_**

_Hey guys, thanks again for reading!_

_Hope you're enjoying it!_

_**xoxo** :)_


	10. Chapter 10

"What are you doing here?"

My voice sounds cold and defensive. I stare at that man, as he crosses his arms and lets a brief laughter get out of his mouth.

"I needed you to bring me what I wanted. And, in fact, you did. As usual, Huntsgirl."

"DON'T YOU EVER CALL HER THAT!" Jake takes a step forward and shouts at him. "HER NAME IS ROSE!"

"Is it?"

A shadow dragon approaches and punches Jake's stomach once. He tried to punch twice, but he grabbed the creature's paw and broke it with a twist.

Although surprised by how he got strong and wanting to hug, kiss him and squeeze his cheeks with my fingers, I run towards him just to see if he's okay. Just.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I want?" The Huntsman asks me.

"Pointless, don't you think? I know you're gonna tell me anyway... And where's Alex?"

With a quick hand move, his face changes and his body becomes smaller. His mask disappears and a blond hair grows on the top of his head.

Alex.

"I kissed the Huntsman?!" Haley is stunned. "Excuse me, I must throw up, where is the restroom?"

"Shut up smartie, I can kill you with a snap of fingers."

"And yet, you didn't kill us at all." I say. "Why. If you really wanted me to ask you, I'm asking now: why?"

He sights. He was about to say something, but the Dark Dragon interrupts him.

I thought I had got rid of that thing. We trapped him inside that portal, and he was supposed to stay there for a thousand years. Now, the number one threat to the magical world is back; and by his exhausted face, I guess he needs help to stay alive.

"We actually needed the dog. That's all. I turned him into the boy, so that we could bring the dog here. AND, he was also the two boys who invaded your houses. That was to kidnap the American Dragon and his master... We knew you and the dog would come after them." His dark voice echoes, and I remember hearing the same voice in my dream, when the Huntsman came to visit me: "Cheaters never win". They're cooperating.

"You crazy fuc-"

"Why do you need Fu?" I cut Jake off and look up at the monster.

"His blood. We need his blood. He's 600 years old; in him bears immortality, and I just have to drink it to gain eternal life. I'm dying."

"Oh really?" I answer, in a mocking tone. "Guess what? I don't care."

One of the dragons put his paws up and sings "I love it!". Then another one punches his face.

The Huntsman smiles. "And I must drink it too. We'll drain his whole body dry."

"Actually... You won't. Your work here is done; you're useless to me, now." The Dark Dragon says, grinning evilly.

"But... You said..."

"I said, I said... Well... I, what is the word? Oh yeah - lied."

One of the dragons comes with an adaga, about to hit the Huntsman; who is with his original appearance, but the Dark Dragon stops it.

"Give the adaga to the girl."

That thing gives me the weapon; and I already know the reason why.

"Kill him, Rose." I look at the weapon. "Don't you wish that? Revenge... The feeling that feeds many of our hearts; and yet stops so much more of them."

I walk towards him, who kneels on the ground, apparently weak. I raise the adaga and, with one single blow, I hit face, that turns aside. When he looks at me again, there's a red line on his cheek.

"I guess they have a way worse destiny for you besides death. I really wanna kill you. But not like that. Enough."

I turn around to walk away.

"ROSE!" Jake shouts, running at my direction and making me kneel. As soon as I do, I see a knife above my vision, and I attack with the adaga, pointing at the origin of the blow. There's a noise of pain and of metal cutting flesh; when I look, I see what I've done. My weapon made a whole in my opponent's stomach. I get my hand off the weapon and whisper, loud enough for him to hear me:

"Cheaters never win."

He gasps and his mouth becomes red; his eyes go empty. All that revenge, range, fear... They're all gone now. One simple blow and they're all gone.

And I don't know if it's the worse or the best part of it; but I don't regret what I've done. He wanted to drink blood? Well, that's the only blood he's going to drink. His own.

Unable to look at him any longer, I turn my face away and hear the noise of his body hitting the ground. Jake puts his arm around me and leads me to our group.

Suddenly, I look at the dragon and say, with all the range I've got.

"Go fuck yourself."

He smiles. "I predicted that. Shadows?"

I feel a wind hitting the back of my head, which means one of them is flying to hit me. They're monkey size, but still difficult to stop. I get down and slide my leg under him, making him fall. Another one tries to punch me, but I punch his eye first.

I keep on fighting the best as I can, but, eventually, they grab my hands and I'm unable to move.

—

We're thrown inside the cell and the guards lock us up. I really thought we could get out of here alive. Well, as usual, I underestimated the situation.

I look at Jake and he looks upset (an obvious conclusion). I guess the beast must have put a sort of spell on this place; cause I haven't seen the American Dragon form since we arrived. There's just some seconds until he starts speaking.

"Don't be upset" he says to his sister, with a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault we're here, you didn't know ab-" he stops when he sees the smile on her face.

"Your welcome" she says.

Jake looks puzzled. He glances at each one of us and then looks back at Haley.

She sights. "You said we needed some time to figure out a way to defeat them and get out. So here's your time. I wasn't fooled; I followed him on purpose. Now I have a better idea about the hallways, entrances and exits; AND, you get time to think about a plan."

"When did you figure out he is a traitor?"

"Please... First, he shows up out of nowhere and says he wanted to know if I was safe. Second, he disappears when the ghosts attack us and then shows up AGAIN out of nowhere saying he knows a way out and starts running down the hallway. It would have been easier if he had just run around in circles holding a piece of paper with 'I'M HERE TO KILL YOU' on it."

I smile. "Smart, sassy Haley..."

"So sexy..." Spud says and Jake turns to look at him; again, puzzled; making Spud look away.

Haley smiles and walks towards her new boyfriend, standing next to him.

"Yeah, Jakie, about that..." She says and glances at her news. "We sort of kissed..."

Jake stares at them. "You two are... Together?!"

"Together kinda... Dating?" She says, looking at Spud, who shrugs it off:

"We haven't gone on a date yet."

"That's something we should do when we go back."

"By date, you mean the romance date or the calendar date?"

"Yeah, we are actually taking pictures of butts to the next year's calend-"

I cut her off with a whisper. "Not the right moment to be sassy"

"Right..."

"So to make things clear here..." Jake says. "You two like each other."

I don't know how I imagined this moment would be. But I'm really surprised when Jake raises his fists up and says:

"FINALLY!"

"Wait..." Spud says, confused. "Since when do you notice this kind of thing?"

"He didn't" Trixie laughs. "I told him."

"Aren't you mad?"

"Am I supposed to?!" Jake says. "I'd be mad if I were mad..."

Haley smiles and hugs her boyfriend.

"But, you know, not to break tradition..." Jake says to Spud. "If you break her heart, I'll break something way worse of yours."

"Deal" He says, grinning.

I take a brief moment to glance at Fu and, when I do, I see something in his eyes. He smiles, but his look is sad; it's just as if he's taking a good last look at them, before... Before something happens. And I guess he knows it will happen; and what was supposed to be a glance turns out to be a stare.

When he notices I'm looking at him, he looks back at me and manages to move his lips for me. I read "Sorry" on them.

"For what?" I say out loud, serious.

Everyone looks at me and then at Fu.

Lao Shi steps forward. "It's time."

"For WHAT?!" I repeat, angry.

I can predict what is going to happen. Suddenly, before I can hold it back, a single tear falls from my left eye; and the silence that rules these few seconds is like an explosion inside my chest.

Finally, Fu speaks. "There's just one way we can defeat them. T-The Dark Dragon wants me. He wants my blood, 'cause it brings long life to the ones who have it. So I have to make sure he never touches it."

"No." I say too quickly. "Don't you dare..."

"It's the only way. The old..." He hesitates, but says it anyway. "The old wizard should die."

Suddenly, everything is clear inside my mind.

"OH MY GOD..." I put my hands on my head. "I'M SO STUPID! TOWSD! TOWSD! IT'S NOT A PLACE, NOT A WORD!" I grab Jake's shoulder. "IT'S A PROPHECY! ABOUT FU! TOWSD stands for The Old Wizard Should Die!"

"So Fu is the wizard?!"

I look desperately at the shar pei, waiting for an answer, and hoping it's a "no". But I know that's too much to ask right now. My heart jumps when I hear his voice, calm and steady, as if everything was okay.

"A long, long time ago, I used to have a human form. I was a wizard, but the scientist kind. My friends and I used to do experiments to discover new potions, spells and cures to curses. But one day, I was in the middle of an experiment and the spell went wrong; caboom, turning me into a talking handsome dog. And I couldn't find a way back.

"I reported my situation to the council and they gave me two options: to simply wait for a cure, unemployed; or to become a guardian dog and protect objects and people. No need to say I got the last one."

"You forgot the option in which you lie to your friends about, you know, YOUR WHOLE LIFE."

"I didn't know one day I would have to tell you!"

"Oh, really?! And you decide to tell us when you're about to DIE?!"

"Have you met Dumbledore?" Spud's voice comes suddenly, along with a sad smile.

Fu grinned. "No, those are just characters. But I did go to Hogwarts; that place rocks."

After that, there's a moment of silence, in which I start to cry without even trying to hold it back. I glance at Jake, who is also crying.

"You knew that." He says to his grandfather. "You knew that if Fu came here, he would have to die."

Lao Shi nods. "It's necessary."

"Necessary?! Couldn't we just trap the dragon in another dimension again?"

"SO THAT WHAT? He escapes?!"

"It's better than sending a family member to death!"

Lao Shi glares at him. "So you think I'M the villain? DO YOU THINK IT'S EASY FOR ME?! IT'S MY BEST FRIEND! THE ONLY ONE I HAVE TRUSTED FOR ALMOST MY ENTIRE LIFE! I LOVE HIM AS MUCH AS YOU DO!"

"Grandpa..." Haley says quietly, like a child; and Gramps calms down. And that's only then that I notice the tears flowing down on her cheeks.

Fu speaks this time, quietly too. "Anyway, that's not a decision you have to make. It's a decision I have to make. And I decide to save your lives."

"But..." I can barely believe it. I kneel on the ground and Jake comes to hug me. He kisses my head and my forehead; and I feel the wetness of his lips, caused by his tears.

Fu approaches and touches my cheek. "I will always be with-"

"No" I say. "No you won't. You're gonna die; and I know that when people die it's like they vanish from this world and you never get to see them again. I..." I look at his eyes and all I can see is determination and trust. "I don't want you to vanish... We love you."

He hugs us and we hug him back.

"I love you guys too. But I really have to do this."

And for the first time in forever, I let it go. [You see what I need here?!] He sighs and hugs Spud, Haley and Trixie. But when he looks at Lao Shi, he just makes a gesture with his hand on his head, as a goodbye; and Luong gestures his head down as an act of respect saying. "Good luck, my friend."

That's when, unexpectedly, a shadow dragon comes and unlocks the door. "Master wants to see you."

It puts chain on our fists and drags us by them, leading us to the main room. And I try not to seem weak or vulnerable, but I don't know if I succeed.

Cause that's when it's all over. That's the day Fu Dog dies.


	11. Chapter 11

We get there and The Dark Dragon is waiting for us, apparently impatient. The Main Room is blue and it's at least 10 meters high.

"What if they heard us?" I whisper to Fu.

"They didn't. I put a spell on our cell so that they couldn't."

I nod.

"So... I see you have been crying." The dragon says in his dark voice. "What a pleasure to be the cause of these tears."

I want to punch him so badly, but it's obvious I can't. Besides, it'd be really stupid. His head almost touches the roof.

"Don't brag." Trixie says. "You're not all that, you know..."

"Really?"

And with one kick, the creature who brought us here makes Trixie fall off her chair; and she stays on the ground, unable to get up.

"Let's stick to the point, right?" He says to Fu and two dragons come and break him free, dragging him towards the dragon.

I look at my friend. He's mumbling something really fast, like a text of which he knows every word.

Or maybe... A spell.

"Any last words, underdog?"

Fu stops mumbling and smiles. He looks up, confident and strong. "Towsd"

The dragon looks down at him, and at us. He laughs and rolls his eyes.

"Is that a bad word in another language?! Oh, never mind..."

After that, everything happens so fast. The dragon is about to pick a knife from the table next to him, but before he does anything, Fu screams and falls to the ground.

The Dark Dragon gets desperate as his body starts melting; and tries to grab a torch that hangs on the wall. Now that his power is fading, Jake is able to use his dragon head to burn the chains; while Trixie tries to crawl to her chair.

What used to be the Dark Dragon was now a figure screaming and trying to reach for an invisible hope; while the torch falls, catching fire right after, and making the whole structure of the place start getting weak.

Jake and Gramps manage to break themselves free. Gramps runs to do the same with Spud and Haley; and Jake runs to help Trixie. He puts her on her chair, turns it on, and comes to burn my chains.

The whole room is burning; and still I feel like I'm underwater: every voice and noise sounds so distant that the only thing I'm actually able to hear are my heartbeats.

I see Fu's body on the ground, helpless. Jake's face appears in front of me, and I think he's shouting for me to run, but I can't really tell.

The next thing I know, I'm running towards Fu and catching him in my arms. I turn around and follow Jake's silhouette, among the smoke.

Haley starts running and we follow her, until we reach the green area. There's a glass wall on the back of the corridor, and that's where they're going to. Haley turns into a dragon, breaks the glass and jumps, followed by Spud, Jake and Gramps. Trixie uses her chair to jump. And when I reach them, carrying Fu, I don't even think twice: I jump.

And now I'm free falling.

—

Cold winter wind dances on my stomach, and the weird sensation of falling takes control of my body until I hit the water.

It's so cold it's hard to breathe. The weigh of Fu's body pulls me down, while I struggle to reach the air. The ocean pushes me to all directions.

Suddenly, I feel something grabbing my shoulder.

"GET OFF!" I scream as soon as I'm taken from the water, although I don't know how I was able to do that. But when I see it, I'm flying.

Jake is rescuing me.

He's got passed out Haley in one paw and me on the other, while Luong's got Spud and Trixie flies on her automatic wheel chair. We fly away from the mysterious building, as it burns down.

When we reach the sand, I cough, letting Fu go. He lays down on the sand, with his eyes closed.

I crawl towards him and put a ear on his chest.

And silence has never made me feel so empty.

Jake returns to his human form and manages to wake Haley up, who had water in her lungs. When he looks at me, I'm hugging Fu's body and kissing his forehead.

I break down when I'm forced to shake my head.

Jake rushes at my direction and I take a few steps back, allowing him to hug his friend. He sobs and hugs him so desperately, so helplessly, as if trying to bring Fu back by squeezing every cell of his body, until they're alive again. And I feel so useless that I want to disappear. But I won't.

After some time, Haley approaches and kisses her brother's cheek, offering him a hand. But never looking at Fu's body. Guess she can't manage it. Jake takes her hand and gets up.

"Let's go" he says, coldly.

I've never seen Jake like that; but, although I want to hug and comfort him, I know he needs to be alone for a while.

I turn around. No one is looking at me. I take my dreamcatcher out of my pants and put it on Fu's chest. Maybe this will keep his nightmares away.

We start to walk away and, after a few silent steps, I turn to Fu's direction and gasp when I see Lao Shi is with his dragon head, setting fire on Fu. I stand there and stare at it. I'm about to say something, but I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Let them." Spud says, shakily. "Fu said he wanted his body to be burnt after... Ya know. And Gramps needs some time too."

I nod, and start walking again, as I've always done during my life. If there's nothing to be done, you walk away from it.

But, sometimes, it never walks away from you.

—

**(15 years later)**

"It's a lovely morning in New York, traffic is not so bad actually, and there's lots of-"

I turn the radio off. I had a dream. I was running and a fairy kept screaming by my side.

Once my dreams made sense, but I'm not certain if I really want those times back.

There was something I had to remember. Today is... Today...

Christmas eve!

I jump out of my bed and open the curtains. Indeed, it's a lovely morning. There's snow all over the ground, but not a cloud in the sky.

I open the door and walk to the pink door next to mine, opening it too. Summer is still sleeping.

I walk in, open her window and the sunlight reflects on her brown hair.

"Wake up, Sam! It's 9am."

She opens her blue, tired eyes and mumbles.

"Mom..."

"What? You know what day it's today and you surely don't want to miss a thing, right?"

She takes a while to take it in.

"Christmas! Tomorrow is Christmas!"

"Hell yeah!"

She jumps out of the bed and looks at me.

"Don't talk using slangs from 20 years ago..."

"You make me feel old."

"I make you FEEL old?!" She smiles at me.

I throw her pillow at her face.

"Shut up, smarty. Now make your bed, I'm gonna wake your brothers."

I walk out of my 11year-old daughter's room and open the door of my 11 year-old sons.

And as soon as I do, I have a heart attack.

One of the beds is on fire. I run to the end of the hallway and pick one of the fire extinguishers, running again to their room to put the fire out.

After it's over, I breathe heavily and look to the side, where they stand, smiling as if trying to avoid a discussion.

"What THE HELL were you thinking?!" I shout at them. "I think was pretty clear, NO DRAGON HEADS INSIDE THIS HOUSE!"

They look at each other.

"NOR AT SCHOOL OR ANY HUMAN/ANIMAL PUBLIC PLACES." I take a pause. "Was I clear?"

They nod.

"Was I clear?!"

"Yes, mom."

"Great. Now clean this mess up and get ready for breakfast..." I change the tone of my voice to a lighter one. "And PLEASE, no dragon anything tonight, cause my parents still don't know you're flying lizards."

They laugh when I say the last word, but nod.

—

I walk down the stairs and I spot Jake behind the kitchen table, which is full of breakfast food.

I smile at him.

"Hey" He says.

"Hey yourself... You did this?! On your own?!"

He walks towards me and kisses me.

"Yep"

"And you didn't even interfere when I was scolding Nick and Conor... Wait..." I look at the stove and use a more serious tone of voice. "There're eggs on the table and the stove looks untouched..." He looks away, like he's trying to hide something. "You used your dragon fire, didn't you?"

Silence.

I follow him when he tries to walk away from me. "How many times do I have to say it?! No dragon heads allowed!"

"I'm sorry! Don't worry, I'm not gonna set fire on you or on anything."

I couldn't help it. I grab his shirt and pull him, so that our noses touch.

I smile and whisper: "You know you don't need your stupid dragon head to set me on fire."

He smiles. "Yeah..." He puts his hands on my hips and pulls me too, giving me a passionate kiss. When we stop, our foreheads are still in touch.

"I love you." He says, kissing my nose.

"I love you too." I smile. "But you're still not allowed to use your dragon head inside his house."

"Dammit…"

—

Summer, Jake and I prepare the Christmas supper, while the boys clean the house up. Amazingly, without a mumble.

When all is ready, the guests start to arrive. First, it's "uncle Spud" and "aunt Haley", who is 8 months pregnant. Then, Jake's parents and a 90 year-old Lao Shi walk in, followed by my parents, Trixie and her fiancé. They all bring presents, which are left under the christmas tree, to be opened at midnight.

We eat, chat and laugh. Trixie talks about her new job as an art teacher. After the accident, she was able to find another talent and passion.

Spud and Haley are really happy, because of the baby. Haley tried for many years, but she never got to get pregnant. Now, it's finally happened.

—

It's midnight, time for the Christmas tree. We sit around it, and each one of us receive the presents.

"Okay..." I say. "This one is for my boys."

Conor takes the gift, and both of them kiss my cheeks, opening the little box afterwards.

"WOW!" Their eyes shine as soon as they see the new video game I bought them. "How did you know?!"

"Summer told me."

They run to hug their sister. "Thanks!"

"No big..." She says, smiling.

After a while, when everyone had received their gifts, I'm ready to walk to the kitchen to get the desserts.

But then my daughter finds an extra package under the tree.

"Look" she says. "There's one left. It says 'For the longs'."

I stand up and look at it. It's basically blue paper wrapped around something, with a white tag where the message is written.

I start to open it, but Nick stops me.

"No! What if it's poison or a bomb?!"

"Use this." Conor hands me an oxygen mask.

I raise an eyebrow and laugh. "How did you get this?"

He wears it and says. "Are you my mummy?"

"Stop it." I say, taking the mask from him. I wear it anyway; and it's good that I do.

Cause what I see takes my breath away.

My dreamcatcher.

How... How is that even possible?

Haley speaks. "It's..."

"Yep."

"How..."

I shake my head. "No idea." I take the mask off.

Jake looks at his grandpa. "Gramps, did you..."

And Lao Shi simply shakes his head too.

I keep staring at it, and start to tear up. But it takes a while until I see Summer's face full of shock. I'm about to ask her what happened, when she runs to her room, and Jake and I follow her way.

She opens her wardrobe and picks a black folder.

"What is that?" Jake asks her.

"Drawings." She answers. "Every night, if I'm able to remember my dreams, I draw them. And..." She paces around her room. "Last night, I had a dream. A friend of yours handed me this dreamcatcher, saying that we should keep it, to keep the nightmares away. He said you'd know what to do with it. Mom... I'm scared, how could this have..." She sits on her bed; and I sit by her left side, while Jake sits by her right.

"Was this friend..." Jake began. "A dog?"

When I hear the word I raise my head immediately to look at him. Does he REALLY believe this?! Fu's dead. It hurts to think about it, but it's the truth; no more than the truth.

But when Summer nods, everything falls apart.

I touch the folder. "Can I..."

She smiles and hands it to me. I open it, and there he is. Summer has an incredible talent with a pencil, getting it right at each of Fu's details. I try hard to hold my tears back.

"I'm gonna go there" she says, pointing at the living room direction. "Just to tell gramps and grandma everything is... 'Fine'." She walks away.

"Jake..." I speak. "If he went inside her dreams, he is alive. He must be."

"I know."

Suddenly, everything makes sense. The Huntsman was able to survive because of his power. But Fu also had power. And I think Jake thought the same I did, because when I look at his eyes, they shine, along with his big smile.

"Do you really wanna do it?" I ask him. "Isn't it stupid? He'd say we're wearing stupidity glasses."

He laughs a little. "Yeah, he would… But what do YOU say?"

"That it's stupid anyway. We're bringing us false hope."

"How can you tell it's false? You know how powerful he was… and maybe, he still is. How can you explain about this?" he points at the dreamcatcher. "He's still around."

I look at his eyes. Then I rest my hand on his and get closer to him. "Then we'll be looking after him."

I thought that getting over Fu's death would be an eternal nightmare; the pain was so strong that I thought I'd feel it forever and never get to sleep well again. But I never thought how it would be like to know he's safe, even though he's not with us.

Maybe we can bring him back.

I take Jake's hand and squeeze it hard, resting my head on his shoulder. Let the nightmares come; they always do. There's no way to avoid it. This is why we love, this is why we long to be loved, because love is that tiny light you see miles away from you, when the darkness tries to wrap itself around your mind. We do anything to reach that light and get our dreams back.

Those dreams are the key to any door; we must reach for them and keep them. After all, we were born to fight for the right of being what we should be.

Dream keepers.

—

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**_Author Notes:_**

_HEY GUYS! I want to **thank** all of you, who **read it till the end**! It means a **lot** to me._

_Don't forget to check my other stories out ;)_

_I wish all of you a good year! I hope you enjoyed it._

**_xoxo_**

_See ya ;)_

**_THANK YOU!_**


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